STJI Blog

Yesterday, we wrapped up our final week with a great trip to Black Water River Village School. It was an hour drive from San Cristobal to the dam and then a 25 minute ride by boat and a rigorous 20 minute climb to reach our destination. The planned inauguration for the water system was interrupted by a severe thunderstorm that blew in over the mountains. The weather may have altered our plans somewhat, but it certainly didn’t stop our volunteers from pressing on to get as much as possible done in what little time we had left! We started to paint the school. However, I believe there was more paint on the local stray dog than on the school! We helped to install a chain link fence to protect the boundaries of the school property. Our water team instructed everyone on the function and maintenance of the water system we installed. Rudy shared the Gospel message of hope with this precious community of people who were nearly wiped out during the warfare that took place in the 1980’s. Entire families were murdered during the massacres. This tiny village of people has suffered great loss. They continue to try to rebuild their lives on the steep mountainside that slopes down to the river below. We were blessed to pray for them and sing worship songs with the children. As the thunder subsided, we loaded our boats and headed for the transport buses. The driving rain could not obscure the absolute beauty of God’s majestic mountains rising up out of the lake all around us as we huddled together on the boats to stay dry.